


Webby VS The Apotheosis

by quackquackbi



Series: Ted Foster AU [1]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Major TGWDLM Spoilers, Minor Black Friday Spoilers, Multi, Paulkins - Freeform, Ted Foster AU, revamped and reposted, slowburn, tedgens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25313059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quackquackbi/pseuds/quackquackbi
Summary: The first book in the series, it’s the events of TGWDLM but with a twist: everyone’s favorite sleazeball is actually the father of seventeen year old Lex and five year old Hannah Foster, and Hannah is along for the ride. How does her presence affect the story as it unfolds? Is the Apotheosis really as inevitable as the Hive thinks?Spoiler Warnings: minor spoilers for Black Friday, major spoilers for TGWDLM.Content Warnings: mentions of alcohol and alcoholism, mentions of physical and emotional abuse, canon-typical violence and character deathNow complete! Sequel in progress!
Relationships: Alice & Bill (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Henry Hidgens/Ted, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins, Ted & Hannah Foster
Series: Ted Foster AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833517
Comments: 19
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1: Show Me Your Hands

**Author's Note:**

> This is a revised version of a previously published fic of mine (since been taken down, along with all my other stuff). If you've already read and enjoyed this fic before, be aware that every chapter has new content that wasn't there before.

"Daddy, I wanna go home," Hannah whispers, clinging to Ted's shirt. She has her stuffed dog, Charlie, with her, and its hard plastic nose is digging into Ted’s sternum. 

"Shh, it's okay, Pumpkin," he murmurs. "We'll be okay..."

He hears familiar voices from outside the trash can they’re hiding inside. He recognizes Paul Matthews' voice, trying to calm some woman Ted does  _ not _ recognize. Bill starts talking, and there's a loud crash as he presumably gets out of his own can, making Hannah flinch. A moment passes with the three talking, then another crash as Charlotte joins them from her can. Finally, Ted decides to make himself known, too, but tries to be quieter about it than the other two.

"It's all downtown," Paul is saying. "We were just at Beanie's."

"You didn't invite me," Ted tries to joke as he pops up, but with the way Hannah's clinging to him and the stressful situation, it doesn't come out quite right.

" _ He _ has a  _ kid _ ?!" The woman— a barista Ted barely recognizes— hisses. Hannah buries her face in Ted's shoulder, never one for strangers. 

"Want Lexie," she whimpers. "Want Lexie... and Ethan... wanna go home..."

"You saw why we can't, Pumpkin," Ted whispers in her ear, rubbing her back. He tries not to shudder at the memory of seeing Lex and her boyfriend in the crowd of dancers down near the mall. That had been horrifying, and the only reason Ted hadn’t freaked out as much as he wanted to was because of the little girl in his arms. He may have been too late to save Lex, but he’ll be damned if he fails Hannah, too. 

He looks back to Paul, hiding his fear behind a mask of defensive anger. "Look, if you wanna stay in  _ our _ hiding spot, you gotta be quiet. There is  _ something _ going on, and we don't know what it is or who we can trust. So, Paul, get in a trashcan." He jerks his head to one of the ones in the row, then turns his eyes back on the barista. "And you? Beat it."

"Uh, fu— screw you," the woman says. She censors her words when she sees Hannah again, but flips him off since the five year old can't see that with her face hidden in her father’s shirt.

"No, Emma stays with us," Paul insists.

"She’s not getting anywhere near Hannah," Ted spits angrily, shifting his daughter in his arms to keep her from sliding down. "I don’t know her."

"Yeah, you do— she's the barista from Beanie's? You know..." Paul sighs and holds his hands up as he does a poor imitation of  _ Ted's _ Borat impression, mumbling the words. "The, uh— the latte hottay..." Both men wince.

The barista, Emma makes a face behind him in confusion. "Is that supposed to be Borat?"

Ted shifts his jaw in annoyance, despite the rather dire situation. "That is  _ not _ the latte hottay, that's the crabby one who won't sing when I tip her," he hisses. "You grabbed the wrong one, you noodle!"

Police sirens echo down the alleyway, blue and red lights washing over the group. Hannah flinches again at the loud noises, covering her ears as Ted’s arms tighten around her. 

"Oh, thank God!" Charlotte cries. "I called Sam, he can get us out of this!" She calls out, running down the alley for her husband. In any other situation, Ted might be more hurt than scared that she’d called  _ him _ for help. Now he’s just scared for a different reason. 

If by some miracle Sam isn’t already one of those  _ things _ , maybe he’ll just ignore Ted for the sake of the situation. There’s so much going on, maybe Sam will focus on all that instead. 

He recognizes Sam as the cop struts down the alley, two other officers flanking behind him. Charlotte tries to explain, but Sam puts his hand out to stop her... and starts singing. He and the other two officers move in sync, getting between Charlotte and the rest of them.

Paul sneaks around and tries to warn her that it isn’t Sam anymore, but they grab him, kicking in the back of his knees. He goes down with a thud on the concrete, and Charlotte rushes over to help him back to his feet. They hastily rejoin the group— safety in numbers, right? Or not. 

" **Show me your hands** ," Sam sings, " **Show me those jazz hands! Get 'em up, or you'll end up in cuffs** !"

Hannah whimpers in Ted's arms, and he holds her tighter, moving away. The cops manage to grab Paul, Emma, and Bill and line them up, forcing them to do some of the apparent choreography they’ve got— making them move their arms like they're steering a car and adjusting their rearview mirrors. One of the other cops starts singing.

" **You go forty in a thirty-five,** " he sings, almost a growl to his voice, " **Check your mirror, you'll find hell has arrived.** "

The other two join in. "' **Cause we're cops, yeah we're cops. We're up in your shit** !"

Eventually, the cops shove all three to their knees and move away. The third cop starts singing, then they go to the chorus again. The third cop starts barking orders, switching back and forth on whether their hands should be up or down, while the second does some funky dance moves. Sam pulls out a small megaphone and barks contradicting orders, too, about getting out of or back in a vehicle.

Hannah's full-on crying by this point, and Ted does his best to soothe her, but he's terrified, too. God, what had Charlotte been thinking? He has no idea how in the hell he’s supposed to protect Hannah now. If he has to, he’ll try to sneak away— let the others be a distraction to the cops. Whatever it takes to protect his younger daughter. 

Just as Ted starts to edge toward the alley entrance, Sam starts speed-talking— almost rapping, but not quite— about something, and all three cops freeze, pointing at Charlotte. She tries to plead with him, still convinced it’s Sam under all the singing and dancing, but Sam draws a gun and starts chasing them all around. The other two herd everyone away from Charlotte.

Ted sees a spare trash can lid laying around, and passes Hannah to Bill. "I have an idea," he hisses. Hannah whimpers and clings harder to her dog, not wanting to leave her father’s arms, but Bill has experience keeping her calm. Ted runs forward to grab the lid, and smacks Sam upside the head with it as hard as he can. The result isn't pretty— something that looks like blue blood and bits of his brain fly everywhere. That’s not a good sign—  _ that’s not normal! _ — but maybe this is what they need to snap Charlotte out of her hysteria. 

Sam crumples to the ground, unconscious but still alive. Charlotte picks up his fallen gun and starts threatening the other two cops, who run away with some weird turkey gobble sound. 

Hannah squirms out of Bill's arms and runs back to her father, clinging to his leg. He runs his hand along the top of her head, but doesn’t move to pick her up yet. He’s still reeling from what he’s just done, and he’s half afraid he’ll drop her from how shaky he is. 

"Sorry, Pumpkin," Ted says. "I had to help Ms. Charlotte."

"His brains fell out!" Charlotte cries, dropping the gun and rushing to Sam's side. She picks up a chunk of what  _ seems  _ to be human brain matter, though there’s something off about it. 

“Well put it back in, then,” Ted says irritably. 

“I don’t know how, I’m not a doctor!”

He takes a closer look, shielding Hannah from the gore, then shudders. “That can’t be his brain— it’s blue!”

“Well how would you know?” she snaps, “You’re not a doctor either! We need to take him to the hospital! He needs to see a doctor!"

So much for snapping Charlotte out of it. She seems even more attached to her no-good husband than before. 

"No, listen," Emma says gently, "listen, Charlotte? Right?"

Charlotte calms down a little and nods. "I'm— Charlotte."

"We have to get out of downtown. Downtown is  _ fucked _ ," Emma says. "And the hospital is downtown. We can't go there..."

"But Sam needs a doctor," Charlotte whimpers. "He needs to see a doctor!"

Emma sighs and pulls away, clearly trying to think. "Oh! Okay, okay, I know where we can go! I have this— this kooky, reclusive biology professor— Professor Hidgens! Yes! I'm his favorite student 'cause I brought him groceries once." She has a slightly confused look on her face as she says that last bit.

"Anyway, um, he has a doctorate— that's kinda like a doctor, right? He could help your husband! Probably," she mumbles the last word, clearly not wanting to stir the pot further. "But he's got a lab in his house, and a security setup— his whole house is like a panic room! What do you call those guys who live in a fortress?"

"A king?" Hannah asks quietly, looking up at Emma with shy eyes. Emma smiles gently at her but shakes her head.

"No, he's a— uh, he's like a— oh! He's a doomsday survivalist! He thinks the world is ending," Emma explains. "He's been preparing for, like, the last twenty years for the apocalypse."

"Is that what this is?" Charlotte mumbles, almost in a daze. "The apocalypse? Maybe we should go to a church..."

"No, no, no, Charlotte," Ted snaps. "We are all from different denominations. We can not split up. We—" he waves his hand to indicate himself and Hannah— "are Presbyterians, and we are not gonna die in your dirty-ass Methodist church, okay?"

He finally picks Hannah up, and she wraps her small arms around his neck. Charlie’s now pressed uncomfortably into Ted’s throat, but he ignores it.

"I say we go to the panic room and beg for the  _ king's _ help." He uses the word 'king' to try and cheer Hannah up just a little. It works somewhat, if only for a moment. Then she sniffles and buries her face in his shoulder again. Ted takes it as a small victory— better than crying hysterically and attracting more of those things. 

Paul agrees, and bends down to talk to Charlotte on her level. "I think the best thing for  _ all _ of us, including Sam, would be to get to the professor." 

Charlotte nods, still crying. She keeps Sam’s “brain” cupped in her hands, cradling it close, and allows Paul to help her to her feet. 

"Let's go right now," Emma adds. "We can take the squad car!"

“Wait, you guys  _ seriously _ want to help her save  _ him _ ?” Ted snaps. “He just tried to kill us! His blood is  _ blue _ !”

“He’s still in there, Ted, I know it,” Charlotte argues. “My Sam is still buried in there somewhere. He just needs some help!”

Ted glares at her, and she glares back. Hannah hiccups in his arms, and shivers. Giving up, he storms over to the squad car and lets the others deal with Sam. Internally, he swears that if anything happens to Hannah because of Sam… he’ll go ballistic. 

They all pile in— Emma driving, Paul in the front passenger seat, Sam shoved in the trunk, and the others in the backseat. Hannah curls up in Ted's lap, clutching Charlie tight, and he holds her close. The drive is pretty quiet, the only real noise being Hannah's quiet sniffles. 

Finally, they arrive at the large house out on the edge of town. The whole place is surrounded by a tall concrete wall with barbed wire across the top. Ted can hear the faint crackle of electricity coming from it. For the most part, it looks rather abandoned. The only indicators that anyone lives here are that electrified fence, and the single light emanating from within the house itself. 

Hannah mumbles something into Ted’s shirt, and he adjusts his hold on her. He doesn’t exactly have the best feeling about this, but what other choice do they have? 

None, that’s what.


	2. Chapter 2: Join Us (And Die)

Emma leads them to the front gate, and presses a buzzer. After a moment, a gruff, masculine voice responds.

"Who is it?" the voice says through the speaker. The guy sounds scared.

Emma presses and holds a second button and says, "Professor Hidgens—"

"Don't lie to me whoever you are," the voice snaps. " _ I'm _ Professor Hidgens!"

Emma rolls her eyes. "I hate that stupid joke," she mumbles, then presses the button again to speak. "No, Professor, it's me— Emma Perkins. The whole town's gone crazy, and I didn't know where else to go."

"Emma! You've come to the right place! Hold on, I'll let you in!"

A second later, the gate clicks and swings open, and Emma leads them up to the front door. She opens it herself with a key she'd apparently been given. The professor— a man in his late fifties or early sixties, if Ted had to guess, with silver hair and a black turtleneck under a brown suit jacket— greeted them in that first room, the dining room.

"Professor, thank God," Emma sighs, reaching for him. They hug, a little awkwardly, before Emma pulls away and introduces the rest of them. "These are my friends, Paul— and, uh, them..." she says the last bit lamely, having clearly already forgotten their names.

Hannah peeks out from Ted's shoulder, and quickly reburies her face. Bill and Paul are half-carrying, half-dragging Sam into the house, and dump him in a dining chair.

"We came from downtown," Emma continues. "Now listen, this is going to sound crazy, but everyone's—"

"Singing?" Hidgens interrupts, grabbing Emma by her upper arms. "And dancing? Like a musical?" He lets go of her. "They want you to join them and once they get you, you're a part of it?"

Emma blinks, and slowly says, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"I theorized this exact scenario thirty years ago," Hidgens declares.

"Really?" Paul asks doubtfully.

"Really!" Hidgens says.

"Like exactly this?"

"Exactly!"

"That the world would become a musical?" Paul asks, still unsure.

"You'd better believe it," Hidgens replies.

"Wait," Charlotte interrupts, "so that's what's wrong with Sam?"

Hidgens whirls to see her unconscious husband, pulling out a small handgun. "Good God! Don't tell me you brought one of them here!" He snaps.

Ted twists to shield Hannah from the gun, putting himself between it and her.

"I told you we should've left him in the alley," he snaps at Charlotte.

"You're a monster, Ted!" Charlotte replies.

"No,  _ he's _ a monster! You're putting my daughter in danger just being near him," Ted growls, holding Hannah even tighter.

Hidgens sees the little girl, and puts the gun away. "Alright, everyone just calm down," he barks. "Providence has brought him to me... quickly! Cuff him to the chair! Make sure he's secure. There's no telling what would happen if he were awake and loose!"

Ted sets Hannah down next to Emma, and helps Bill grab both sets of cuffs from Sam's toolbelt and cuff him to the chair. Ted puts the key in his pocket. Hannah clings shyly to Emma's leg, and the barista crouches down to soothe her.

"I've been preparing for this day for decades," Hidgens announces. "Now all of the answers are right in front of me! If only I have the wits to decipher them."

Carefully, he pokes around at the blue goop oozing from the wound in Sam's head, and pulls a chunk out, a disgusted look on his face. "Emma," he calls, and she goes to him after a gentle smile to Hannah. "Tell me... what on Earth does this look like to you?"

Emma peers at it in confusion. "I don't know," she says slowly, waving her hand a little. "Some kind of blue... shit?"

"Exactly, Emma!" Hidgens declares. "What the fuck is this shit?!"

Ted goes back to Hannah and picks her up again, covering her ears with his shoulder and one hand. Normally he doesn’t mind swearing— God knows he does enough of it himself— but in front of his five year old daughter? No thanks. 

"I'll tell you what on Earth it looks like," Hidgens continues, throwing Ted and Hannah a slightly apologetic glance. "Nothing! You all remember that meteor that crashed into the Starlight Theatre last night? I daresay it carried a deadly cargo, a contagious pathogen of cosmic origin."

"Wait a second, doc," Bill jumps in. "Don't tell me you're talking about... aliens?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Hidgens retorts. "Think of all that we take for granted now, that was once foretold in the pages of Bradbury, and Asimov! Why, look no further than my robot assistant, Alexa!" He holds up the wireless Amazon device, as it chimes in response to hearing its name.

"Once contained to the realm of science fiction, she is now science fact!" Hidgens looks around and sees everyone's disbelieving faces, and huffs slightly. "Alexa! Dim the lights." The lights go down, and Hidgens sets the Alexa back down and walks to the light switch.

"Extraordinary," he breathes. "Twenty years ago I would have had to walk all the way to the dimmer." He brings the lights back up by hand, then retakes his spot standing next to Sam.

"Now, as unbelievable as she— or this outbreak— may seem, it is no longer a question of  _ can this be happening _ , but rather  _ how do we stop it _ ? I've got to get this blue  _ shit _ beneath a microscope to find out what makes these bastards tick!" Hidgens glances at Ted and Hannah once more before preparing to leave.

"Uh, excuse me Professor," Paul speaks up. "This is a lot to take in. Do you have anything to take the edge off? Uh, a drink? Or something?"

"Young man," Hidgens says, his voice low. It sounds almost like a warning. "For the last twenty-seven years, I have been stockpiling the bare essentials needed for human survival, in the event of a world-ending cataclysm!" He pauses, then throws an arm around Paul. "You bet your ass we got booze, come with me!"

Ted goes to follow, Hannah in his arms, but he sees Charlotte hesitating. Setting his daughter down, he encourages her to go with Emma and the others.

"C'mon, Charlotte," Ted says. "We'll make you a drink and we can relax... talk... you can get to know Hannah?" He lingers by the stairs to the basement, where the rest of them had disappeared down.

"Ted, the whole world could be coming to an end!" she cries. "What's the point?"

"The point is that I left my wife for you, Charlotte," Ted snaps, "and you still won't even  _ consider _ leaving Sam!"

"His brains fell out today," she whimpers. "If I can't be a wife to him now, what kind of woman am I?"

"I dunno, Charlotte, I'm not your therapist!" Ted says, annoyed. "So why don't you just go back to fucking  _ him _ , huh? I know that's why you  _ actually  _ went to counseling." 

Of course Ted knows he’s not Charlotte’s only affair. He’s not a  _ complete _ idiot. Stupid enough to leave his wife for a woman who clearly doesn’t love him back? Maybe. Or maybe he was just in denial at the time. 

"Not just that," she replies with a sigh, stroking hair out of Sam's face. "I want to make things work with him... I love him. I know I shouldn't, but I do."

Ted sighs, too. "He treats you like dirt, Char. The guy's scumbag. But you do you, I'm done. We're over, Charlotte." He digs the keys out of his pocket and tosses them to her. She catches them, surprised. "I'm gonna go check on my daughter and hit on that hot professor."

Ted goes downstairs, and catches up to the others. Hannah's curled up on a couch, sniffling. Bill's raiding the liquor cabinet, and Paul and Emma are standing off to the side in silence. The professor is nowhere to be seen.

Ted goes and sits next to Hannah, and she uncurls long enough to scoot so her head can rest in her dad's lap. He strokes her hair, and she slowly calms down as her breathing evens out. She falls asleep.

Ted looks around. There's a ping-pong table in the middle of the room, though it looks like it hasn't been touched in years. The liquor cabinet is over against one wall, and a large dry-erase board from floor to ceiling on another. The third wall has three different doors. There are a couple of mis-matched armchairs around the room, as well as the couch he and Hannah are on.

"He said this was a full bar," Bill grumbles. "But how am I supposed to make a Shirley Temple without any cherries?"

"Jesus, Bill," Ted chuckles. "It's the end of the world, and you're gonna get your drink on with a Shirley fuckin' Temple?" 

"Well I figured one of us should stay sober," Bill snaps. "We might need a designated driver."

Ted considers it. He could keep being an asshole about it, but he chooses not to. Not in front of Hannah, even if she's asleep. "I'm not drinking," he says instead. "You can have whatever you really want."

Bill blinks at him, and even Paul and Emma glance over. "Seriously?" Bill asks.

Ted points to Hannah with his free hand and nods. "Seriously."

Bill looks doubtful for a moment, clearly waiting for Ted to say ‘sike!' But when he doesn't, Bill grabs the bottle of Maker's Mark and pours himself a glass. Ted quietly hums a lullaby, still stroking Hannah's hair. Paul and Emma sit down in front of a couple of the armchairs and talk quietly to each other.

Ted only catches snippets of their conversation— something about Emma being in Guatemala for a long time, her sister's funeral bringing her back, and musicals back in high school. Ted doesn't really care about any of that. He keeps his eyes set down on Hannah, watching her twitch and mumble incoherently in her sleep. Her grip only tightens on the stuffed dog,

Ted glances up when he hears footsteps, expecting to see Charlotte finally coming to join them. He's horrified to see the blue shit dripping from the side of her mouth, her guts stained blue as they hang from her belly. Sam stands behind her with a feral grin on his face.

"Charlotte?!" Ted exclaims, scooping Hannah up protectively.

" **It is time** ," Charlotte declares, and sings the rest of what's to come, " **to DIE!** " She holds the note out a ridiculously long time, then she and Sam start coming closer.

Hannah wakes up, sees Charlotte, and screams before hiding her face in Ted's shirt once again.

"What's wrong with her shirt?" Emma exclaims, as Charlotte and Sam rush to the middle of the room. The only thing protecting them is the ping-pong table, except for Bill, who is still over by the liquor cabinet. Sam and Charlotte inch toward him as they sing.

"No!" Paul cries. "He has a daughter!"

Ted passes Hannah to Paul and tries to help Bill. Bill gets away, but Sam grabs Ted and throws him to the floor. He and Charlotte stand over him, each with their legs spread on either side of his body, as they sing.

Paul holds Hannah protectively as she cries, reaching for her dad.

" **Punch it, squeeze it!** " Sam and Charlotte sing, though it sounds more like a sick game of Bop-It. " **Crush it, kill it! Ride it, drag it!** " Ted tries to crawl away, but they drag him back. " **Wind it up, kick its nuts!** "

"Daddy!" Hannah cries out.

Ted's vision goes blurry as the steel-toed boot makes an impact like they'd declared, and he groans in pain. The singing duo finally step away from him as they start to approach the others.

Suddenly, a shotgun blast echoes in the room, and Ted sees Sam drop to the ground, oozing blue blood from a gaping wound in his head. A piercing, operatic note comes from Charlotte, almost like a scream, and then another shotgun blast. He sees Charlotte fall, too. There's a hole in her chest where her heart should be.

Ted slowly drags himself to his feet, accepting the professor's outstretched hand.

"Oh, my God!" Emma exclaims. "Professor, you just killed Charlotte!"

"Wrong," Hidgens says, taking an unlit cigarette out of his mouth.

"You shot her," Paul points out.

"I shot a charlatan!" Hidgens declares, mouth hanging open as if to say 'get it?'

Ted snorts quietly as he goes back over to Hannah, taking her from Paul and soothing her. "I'm alright, Pumpkin," he whispers in her ear. "Daddy's okay." She presses her face to his shoulder, muffling her sobs. He can feel wet patches growing, and he hopes it’s just tears. Snot is a pain to wash out.

Hidgens seems to appreciate the small acknowledgement of his pun, but rolls his eyes and waves his hand dismissively at the others, who didn't react. Hannah slowly calms down, helped by her father’s steady hand running up and down her back.

"The Charlotte you knew and loved was gone the minute a note came out of her mouth," Hidgens says. "After examining that blue—" he catches sight of Hannah, who is watching him carefully— " _ stuff _ , it didn't take long for me to decipher that Sam was no longer human, but part of the alien brood! Genetically reconstructed from the inside out. They're wearing our skin to fool us!"

His eyes widen, and he points the shotgun at his guests. "Which means any one of you could be one of them! So we're gonna have a little test to see who's still human, and who's a musical doppelgänger."

"Professor, we're not aliens," Emma tries to tell him, voice mostly calm but a little pleading.

"I want you all to sing sixteen bars, right now!" Hidgens growls. "Sing the beginning of Moana!"

"No, professor—"

"I said sing, goddammit!" He cocks the gun again, pointing it at them.

Paul leads them, surprisingly enough. They're all disjointed, trying their best, but it's clear that only Hannah knows how the song is supposed to go. Even then, she doesn't do very well. In the end, Bill's singing The Lion King, which makes Hannah giggle.

"That's not it," she says quietly, giving him a shy smile. Bill smiles back at her.

"Alright," Hidgens says, putting the gun down with a mildly disturbed look on his face. "That was terrible. Not a single one of you was on pitch, which means you're still human! These... things... their tactic is to hide among us, and as their numbers grow, they become more bold— and as we've seen, more violent."

A cell phone ringing interrupts Hidgens, and everyone (except for Hannah) checks their pockets. It's Bill's phone.

"Alice? Oh, thank God!" Bill sighs. "I've never been more happy in my  _ life _ your mother left me and moved you to Clivesdale— what? No, I saw you get on the bus this morning... got off? Got  _ off _ ? To go see Deb? Alice, if Deb jumped off a bridge, would you—? No, you're right. I'm sorry, I know you're scared... wait, what's wrong with Deb? She's doing  _ what _ ?! No, Alice, listen to me. You get away from her right now— no, this has nothing to do with me not liking Deb. Right now you need to run and hide. Where are you? No, you stay there. I'll come to you. No, don't you say— everything's going to be fine. I love you, too." Bill hangs up, and takes a deep breath. He turns to them.

"Give me a snack and some water," he says quickly. "Alice is stuck in the high school, I have to go save her!"

Ted remembers seeing Lex and her boyfriend, and flinches, holding Hannah tighter. "Good luck," he says quietly.

"I'll go with you," Paul says. "I know a shortcut. We should avoid downtown. There's a neighborhood we can cut through, Pinebrook. Rich neighborhood— huge yards."

"Yes, avoid densely populated areas," Hidgens says with a nod.

"And there's a window always open in the teacher's lounge so they can smoke," Emma adds. "Used to be my old escape route. You can slide right in!"

"I didn't go there," Bill says. "I don't know where the teacher's lounge is!"

"I'll go with you guys, too," Emma says. "If we haul ass, we can be there and back in twenty minutes!"

"Godspeed," Hidgens says, passing Bill the shotgun. The three hurry up the stairs, and the remainders can hear the front door slam behind them.

Hidgens turns to Ted. "Would you mind cleaning this up?" He asks hesitantly. "I really should get back to the lab. I have a theory on how to stop this."

"Uh, yeah... do you mind keeping an eye on her?" He boosts Hannah a little bit, where she'd been sliding down.

Hidgens nods. "I could use an extra pair of hands in the lab," he says with a small smirk. Hannah reluctantly lets Ted put her down, and follows Hidgens into his lab while Ted gets to work on cleaning up the two dead bodies.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3: Not Your Seed

Paul leads Bill and Emma through the neighborhood he used to deliver newspapers in. They make it to the school parking lot in only twelve minutes, which is incredible on foot— Emma may have been exaggerating before about how quickly they could make it. When they arrive, she points out the teacher's lounge, and Paul gives her a boost to get in first. 

Surprisingly, they haven’t seen a single infected person on the way over. Paul’s not sure if that’s a good sign or not. Either way, he can’t shake the feeling of dread settling in his stomach.

Bill goes through the window next, then Paul himself after a brief, somewhat paranoid look around the parking lot. The room smells like cigarette smoke, which lines up with what Emma had said about why the window was open.

"Where's she hiding?" Emma whispers to Bill, peeking out the door.

"Choir room," Bill responds, voice just as soft. Emma nods, and beckons for them to follow her. Paul’s only been here once in his entire life, and that was  _ years _ ago. 

They creep along the hall, ducking into an alcove near the auditorium when they see someone— a teenage girl, moving way too gracefully to not be infected— cross the hall into the library. Bill clutches the shotgun tightly, too nervous to even shake.

"This is all my fault," he mumbles. "I bet she got off the bus because of that stupid fight this morning... what was I  _ thinking _ ?"

"It's not your fault," Paul assures him, wanting to stay quiet but also  _ not _ wanting to just dismiss his best friend’s fears.

"She's a good kid, you guys," Bill says. "She's so smart, and she makes good grades, and I respect her choices, but... if I'm being honest, I just don't like  _ Deb _ . It's just, she's always on her phone and— and I don't know, I just think Alice can do better, you know?"

"Shh," Emma hisses, while Paul keeps trying to assuage him.

"And you should've heard what I said this morning, the knucklehead that I am," Bill groans quietly, too deep in his thoughts to hear them. "I told her—"

Before he can go any farther, Emma whirls around and reaches up, putting a hand over his mouth. "This place could be crawling with these things," she whispers harshly. "Shut your mouth, or you're gonna get us all killed."

Bill nods, his eyes wide, and Emma slowly pulls her hand away, a very determined warning look on her face. Paul tries to hide his relief— and how impressed he is with the petite barista. They make it to the choir room, which is locked and barricaded on the other side.

Bill gently taps on the door's glass pane. "Alice?" he hisses. "Alice! Sweetheart, open up! It's me, it’s your dad!"

Her face pops up in the window, terrified, and it looks like she's holding a baseball bat for a weapon. Bill sighs in relief, and Alice puts the bat down to start removing the barricade. She lets them in, and her dad wraps her up in a tight, relieved hug.

"Oh, thank God you're okay," Bill sighs. "I was so worried!"

"Dad, what's going on?" Alice asks fearfully. "Why is everyone singing? What's wrong with Deb? She— she tried to hurt me, Dad! She’s never done that before!" She tears up, shaking in her fear. Bill passes Paul the shotgun so he can properly hold Alice in his arms.

"It's a long story," Emma cuts in. "We'll explain it once we're safe, but that's definitely not here. C'mon!"

Paul finally notices the other kid in the room, cowering in the corner, and holds back a small groan. His glasses are crooked, and his bowtie is hanging undone around his neck, but it's definitely the hot chocolate kid that kept interrupting Paul and Emma yesterday.

"What about Peter?" Alice asks, drawing everyone else's attention to her companion. "He's my friend, I'm not leaving him behind!"

Emma groans slightly when she sees and clearly recognizes the kid, and nods. "He can come, too, as long as he  _ fucking hurries _ ."

Alice holds out her hand, gesturing for Peter to follow them, and he gets to his feet shakily.

Emma leads them back out the way they came without being caught by anyone, then Paul takes over to lead them back through Pinebrook. Alice eats a small snack her dad brought— a granola bar— on their way, and gives a second one to Peter, who simply puts it in his pocket for later. She stuffs the garbage of hers (and the water bottle she chugs after) into her backpack.

At one point, about halfway through the fancy neighborhood, Paul spots movement up ahead. He and the others duck behind some bushes until it disappears again. It’s a child, a little boy not much older than Ted’s daughter, skipping along and singing the same song that the Greenpeace girl had been singing that morning. Emma seems particularly shaken on the rest of the way back to the professor’s house.

—————

Henry lets Hannah sit on the lab table in the center of the room while he works. Truthfully, he doesn't really need any help, but the girl is adorable, and her father... well, Henry hadn’t been able to resist those eyes, especially given the gruesome task Ted had been assigned.

Henry gives the girl two beakers— one with baking soda, and one with vinegar he’d died blue— and tells her to very carefully mix the two together. It has nothing to do with the real work he's doing, but it certainly seems to keep her distracted and entertained. He has his back turned when he hears the glass shatter against the tile floor.

He turns to see Hannah already scrambling down to the floor to clean it up herself, her small hands shaky and tears running down her face. He hurries over to help, but she cowers away, only reaching out to grab the small stuffed dog she’d left sitting on the table. She hugs it to her chest with one arm. 

"It's alright," Henry soothes, cleaning up the broken glass carefully, "it was just an accident. I do it all the time."

Still, she cowers, shielding her face with her free hand as she cries silently. Henry catches a glimpse of her mouth moving, but he has no idea what she's trying to say. He tries again.

"Hannah, it's okay," he promises. "I'm not mad... what's wrong?"

"Please don't hurt me," she whimpers, finally audible. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn’t mean to..."

"Hey, no, it's okay," Henry says, a little confused. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart..." Then it occurs to him, why she's so scared over such a small accident. "Has someone hurt you  _ before _ ? For something like this?"

Hannah nods tearfully, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Who?" Henry struggles to keep the shock and anger out of his voice. "Was it your father? He's not here right now, you can tell me the truth."

She shakes her head frantically, eyes wide and full of fear. "No! N-not him! M-m-mommy..."

Henry sighs, "Oh, sweetheart... may I pick you up? We should get you away from the broken glass before you cut yourself."

Hannah hesitates, but nods as she reaches for him. Henry picks her up and sets her back on the table. He picks up the other beaker, getting her attention before intentionally dropping it to the floor to shatter among the half-swept remains of the other one.

"See? I did it, too." He smiles gently at her, and she giggles a little, but she's still crying. "Can you tell me where your mommy hurt you, sweetheart? You won't be in trouble, no matter what you say."

Shakily, Hannah points to her arm, the back of her head, and her face. "G-grabs my arm r-really hard, th-then hits me h-here and h-here. Hurts Lexie, too."

"Is Lexie your sister?” Hannah nods, hugging the dog to her chest. “I won't let it happen again," Henry promises. He grabs a broom and sweeps the broken glass into one corner of the room, then gets back to work.

"So h-how are they all doing that?" Hannah sniffles. "The s-singing and dancing... do they practice?"

"No," Henry chuckles, although he’s still reeling from the information about the little girl’s mother. "I have a feeling that they're all connected, like appendages of a much larger organism—" he catches sight of her blank look, reminds himself that he's talking to a five year old, not one of his college students, and takes a moment to adjust accordingly. "They're like... fingers and toes, and the brain is somewhere else."

"And it c-came down in the meteor?" she asks carefully. She’s slowly calming down from her panic, her sniffles coming fewer and farther between. 

"Or—“ Henry tilts his head, and reaches out to hold the tip of his finger against the tip of her nose— "it  _ is  _ the meteor."

"Okay," Hannah giggles a little, and he withdraws his finger with a small smirk. "So... it wants to kill us all so we can join its stupid musical?"

"That's one way to put it," he admits, then pauses. "What, you don't like musicals?"

"Not this one," Hannah says quietly, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging herself tightly. Henry frowns. 

"Well, you could also say it's uniting us," he continues, his mind racing. "With one common purpose..."

"But how do we stop it?" Hannah whines. "It's scary, and they took Lexie and Ethan. They were supposed to take me to go see a movie tomorrow..."

Henry lightly clears his throat. "Right," he mumbles. "Stop it..." His hand inches toward the drawer in front of him, behind Hannah.

"So... you said the meteor is the brain? What if we broke the meteor? Would that stop the aliens and fix Lexie?"

"That's a sound theory, Hannah," he says, pulling out a syringe. He empties about two thirds of it out onto the floor, before quickly and quietly approaching the little girl with her back turned to him. "Which is why it must never leave this room."

"What?" She sounds confused, and squeaks in fear as the needle pierces the skin of her neck. "N-no! DADDY, HELP ME!"

"Shh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Henry whispers, glad his lab is soundproof. The last thing he needs right now is for her father to come bursting in and fight back. What he  _ does _ need is the element of surprise.

The little girl goes limp in his arms, and he uses the side door that connects directly to his music room. He quickly ties her to one of the half-dozen folding chairs he keeps in there, and heads back to the lab. He readies another syringe— keeping the full dose this time— and hides it in his pocket. He sticks his head out into the main room.

"Oh, good!" he says cheerfully, seeing that Ted's done and just about to sit down on the couch. "Would you mind coming in here and taking a look at something?"

Ted starts coming over, curious and a little confused. "I'm not really much of a biology kinda guy," he says. "I'm more... I'm a journalist, you know?"

"It's about Hannah," Henry clarifies. That certainly gets Ted's attention.

"Is she okay?" he asks worriedly, and Henry nods.

"Will you please come take a look?" he insists, and Ted hurries over.

As soon as Ted takes one step through the door, Henry's got the needle in his neck and is pushing down the plunger. Ted turns and looks at him with wide, terrified eyes, until the sedative kicks in half a second later and he goes limp, brown eyes fluttering closed. Henry tosses the syringe aside and easily picks the other man up and takes him to the music room, tying Ted up next to his daughter.

Perhaps the proximity will keep them both calm until his plan took effect. He has a few other preparations to make in the meantime...


	4. Chapter 4: Show Stoppin' Number

Hannah wakes up with her chin touching her chest, and a pain in the back of her neck because of it. She remembers sitting in the lab with Dr. Hidgens, dropping the beaker, telling him about her mommy, talking about the meteor... and then—nothing. She doesn't remember anything after she suggested they try to stop the aliens by breaking the meteor.

She realizes why she's sitting up, but only when she tries to stand. There are ropes tying her to the hard metal chair, and she struggles against them, but it's no use. Looking around, she sees her daddy tied to the chair next to her, and she nudges him with her foot.

"Daddy!" she hisses, trying very hard not to cry. Why would Dr. Hidgens do this? Hannah had thought he was so nice… he hadn’t hurt her for breaking that glass like her mommy would have, and he’d even promised not to let anyone hurt her ever again!

Her daddy doesn't wake up, just mumbles something in his sleep and lolls his head a little. She kicks his leg again, but it's still no use. He's fast asleep.

Hannah closes her eyes and tries to focus on Webby, who had always told her she'd be available if Hannah needed her. Well, Hannah definitely needs her now.

_ Don't listen to him _ , the spider warns her.  _ When he comes in, don't listen to him. He is wrong, and you need to convince him. The Hive is bad. It will consume the planet, destroy it, and move on. _

Hannah nods to herself, and her daddy finally starts to wake up, just as Dr. Hidgens comes in. "Pum'in?" Ted mumbles, slurring his words. "Wha's goin' on?"

"Good, you're finally awake!" Dr. Hidgens says cheerfully.

"What are you doing?" Hannah whimpers, trying to scoot her chair closer to her daddy's. She’s too small to make it work, but he seems to come into focus and scoots toward her instead. The chair’s feet scrape against the tile floor, screeching unpleasantly in Hannah’s ears. 

"Exactly what needs to be done, Hannah," he replies, fiddling with something on one of the many bookshelves in the room. "And I promise this isn't about the beaker— like I said, I drop them all the time. This is about saving the world! Alexa, open the gates! Turn off the fences, shut it all down!"

"No, professor!" Ted struggles against his own bonds. "The defenses are all that's protecting us!"

"Protecting us from  _ what _ , Ted?" Hidgens snaps. "The end of the world? What's protecting us from nuclear holocaust, climate change, overpopulation? Ted, Hannah... the world was already doomed. Not by them, but by us. I've been trying to save something that could not be saved. Until now... but first, before we can be reborn into a better world, we must say our goodbyes."

"Please, Professor Hidgens," Ted begs him. "Just let  _ Hannah _ go, please."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ted," Dr. Hidgens says. "Don't you see? In order for humanity to survive, it must  _ evolve _ . That's what this visitor from the stars has brought us! Salvation!"

Ted's still quietly begging him for Hannah's freedom— not even his own, just Hannah’s. Hidgens is still ignoring him. 

“Hive bad,” Hannah mumbles, too scared to truly direct it at the professor. There’s a wild look in his eyes that she doesn’t like— it feels like just a moment ago that he’d been so kind and gentle with her, cleaning up the broken glass. 

"We must join them!" he declares. "This is our second chance...  _ my _ second chance."

Hannah has silent tears running down her face. "Please, sir. Think about what you're doing!"

"Hannah," he says softly, staring at something covered by a sheet in front of them. He has his back turned to her. "Did you know that long before I was a biologist, I had a much truer and  _ deeper _ passion? Yes... my first love was, and always will be—" He rips the sheet off the large object, revealing a keyboard piano— "musical theatre!"

Hannah stares at him in shock, and so does Ted. "Oh, gosh... no..."

"You're fucking nuts!" Ted shouts at him, not even caring anymore that he’s swearing in front of his five year old daughter.

"After examining that creature you once called Sam, I made a fascinating discovery," Hidgens says, ignoring them. "These aliens— they possess a highly specialized gland that allows them to communicate through rhythmic frequencies! They're drawn to  _ music _ , like a moth to the flame."

He strokes the top of the keyboard lovingly. Hannah whimpers, not understanding a single word of what he’d just said, only the frightening tone in which he’d said them. Ted begs him to stop, but Hidgens continues to ignore them. Maybe he’s doing that on purpose, or maybe he’s too focused on what he’s doing to be able to hear them. 

"This is humanity's eleventh hour," he declares, sitting on the small bench. He smirks at his hostages. "And I've prepared something for the occasion."

He starts playing, and Hannah starts crying silently again.

" **It's a show stopping number** ," he sings, his voice a clear baritone. Under normal circumstances, Hannah would probably find it soothing. " **A real show stopper. A show stopping number, come on** ..."

He keeps going, and both hostages struggle harder. It's no use, and Hannah starts making small sounds as she cries. "Please stop," she whimpers, but Hidgens doesn't seem to hear her. "Please— please, stop!"

_ Webby, help me! _

_ Tell him what I told you, _ she replies.  _ Consume. Destroy. Move on. Repeat.  _

He gets up from the keyboard, still singing, and starts to dance a little. He rips off his suit jacket dramatically, letting it fall off his shoulders before tossing it aside and pushing up his long sleeves to his elbows.

" **So crash those shiny cymbals** ," he sings, " **got a show stoppin' hymnal for you** ."

He glances over and finally notices Hannah crying. He comes over to crouch in front of her, wiping her tears away. She flinches at his touch, and Ted growls at him.

"Don't cry, sweetheart," he says gently. "It'll all be over soon, and your mother will never touch you again."

"W-what?!" Ted snaps out of his anger for a brief moment. "What about Maddie?"

"It's a long story," Hidgens says with a sigh. "It won't matter much here in just a little while..."

"Webby says the Hive is bad," Hannah mumbles, and Hidgens freezes. She sniffles, and tries to wipe her nose on her shirt shoulder.

"What did you just say?" Hidgens asks quietly.

"W-Webby said the Hive is b-bad," Hannah repeats. "Consume, destroy, move on, repeat. Over and over. Always h-hungry."

"N-no..." Hidgens shakes his head. "No, the Hive will  _ save _ us, not  _ kill _ us."

Hannah shakes her head, too. "Webby said no. Hive is b-bad. Consume, destroy, move on. They don't care about us. We're just another m-meal for them."

She doesn’t know what  _ consume _ means, but she knows  _ destroy _ , which means the first one probably isn’t very good either. 

Ted's still shaking from Hidgens' words about Hannah's mother, and now the fact that Hannah seems to be getting through to the crazy man who tied them up. Hidgens is actually  _ listening _ to her. The look in his blue eyes is slowly changing from wild determination to fear and panic. 

"Webby said—" Hidgens breathes. "You can hear Webby? Describe her to me, prove it!"

"What the hell?" Ted mumbles to himself. The other two ignore him. He’s heard Hannah talk about Webby before, her imaginary spider friend from outer space. He never imagined it would actually come in  _ handy _ somehow. 

"She's a spider from the Black and White," Hannah says confidently, making eye contact with Hidgens— which is truly impressive, considering she can rarely do that with  _ anyone _ , let alone a stranger. "She said you wrote your own musical called Workin' Boys."

Hidgens loses his footing, falling backward. He had still been crouched in front of her, and lands on his rear end. "Alexa," he calls, voice shaking. The unit chimes off, waiting for his command. "Reinstate all defenses."

Hannah lets out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, starting to cry again in relief. Hidgens quickly moves behind them and releases them both from their bonds with a small pocket knife. Immediately, Ted leans forward and scoops Hannah up, holding her close. She keeps her arms wrapped tight around him as they both catch their breath. 

"Thank God," he murmurs, then glances at Hidgens. "Thank you," he adds reluctantly.

Hidgens doesn't hear him, too busy trying to not hyperventilate as panic consumes him. "What have I done?" he mumbles to himself, sitting down on the floor and bringing his knees to his chest. "Dear God, what have I  _ done _ ?"

Hannah squirms to be put down, and goes over to Hidgens. She hugs him.

"You didn't," she whispers. "Almost, but you didn't. Webby says it's okay. She says it's time for Plan B."

"What the  _ hell _ is Plan B?" Ted asks suspiciously.

Hidgens takes a deep, shuddering breath, and nods. "Of course," he mumbles, getting to his feet, but he almost immediately crouches back down to hug Hannah. "Thank you for setting me straight," he whispers, then lets go and stands up.

To Ted, he says, "I'm very sorry about all that... I'm not quite sure what came over me. I was convinced— well, I suppose it doesn't matter what I thought. The fact is, Hannah was right. I was wrong. And now I have to  _ make _ things right. Plan B was something I created just in case, well, in case I were to find out that the Hive was malicious. I just have to make a few small adjustments, now that I actually have a sample to tie it to."

"And what exactly  _ is _ it?" Ted asks, scooping Hannah back up and holding her protectively. She lays her head on his shoulder, and silently thanks Webby. 

"It's a specialized neuro-toxin that will target the spores from the meteor and kill the brain that's controlling everyone," Hidgens explains. "It's completely harmless to Earth life. I even have a device to distribute the toxin. It's a very modified can of hairspray."

"And you're sure it won't hurt humans?" Hannah checks, and Hidgens nods at her.

"It will work," he says. "It will kill the Hive, and leave all its human hosts intact— except for those who ended up like Sam and Charlotte... I’m afraid it can't fix those wounds. Anyone fatally injured or killed while already under the Hive’s influence—“

"What the hell happened in here?" Emma asks from the doorway, surveying the room in shock. Paul, Bill, Alice, and another kid Alice's age stand behind her. Ted thinks he recognizes the kid from Beanie's, but he's not totally sure.

"Temporary insanity," Ted says. "We've recovered."

"It was my fault, Emma," Hidgens admits. "I'll explain later, but first I need to bond the spore samples to the neuro-toxin so it knows what to target. Come, I'll count it toward your labwork grade next semester." Emma follows him to the lab, still confused, and Paul follows them at Ted's wary, subtle insistence.

Hannah waves shyly at Alice, who waves back. She reaches for Alice, happy to see a familiar face— Alice had been her favorite babysitter, whenever Lex and Ethan were unavailable, until moving away at the beginning of the summer. Ted lets her go to Alice and the other kid, trusting them to watch Hannah, and heads into the lab to watch everything himself.

Despite everything that had just happened, both the good and the bad, Ted has some very conflicting emotions regarding the biology professor he'd declared 'hot' earlier.


	5. Chapter 5: A Late Intermission

Ted watches Hidgens and Emma work, half-curious and half-wary. Hannah seems to trust the professor, now, so Ted is making the effort to go along with it. Something about the way she’d calmed him down with the very mention of her imaginary friend… it’s unsettling, to say the least. 

He rubs his wrists a little, raw where he had struggled against the paracord the professor had used earlier, as he thinks over it all. Paul nudges him, elbow to elbow.

"What's wrong?" he asks quietly, gesturing vaguely to Ted's hands.

Ted hesitates. He doesn't want to interrupt the scientist and assistant at their very important work, but he doesn't want to leave them to tell Paul, either.

"It's that long story we mentioned," he mutters finally. "Tell you later."

Paul gives him a weird look, but lets the subject drop. Thank God for that.

"So who's the kid?" Ted asks quickly, desperately wanting to change the subject. "One of Alice's friends?"

"Apparently," Paul says with a shrug. "He was in the choir room with her when we got there. They were both terrified. He hangs around Beanie's a lot— totally ruined the flirting thing yesterday." He mumbles the last bit so quietly that Ted can barely hear him.

"So how exactly is this... device thing supposed to work?" Paul asks, changing the subject again before Ted can ask about 'the flirting thing'— although Ted’s not exactly in the mood to ask, anyway. "Did he tell you while we were gone?"

Ted shrugs, but nods a little. "Yeah, but I don't really understand it. As far as I can tell, he made some kind of poison that only affects the Hive, and will leave the humans to go back to normal unless they were killed in other ways... like Sam and Charlotte." He shudders a little, thinking about the lifeless stare Charlotte had given him when she'd dropped. He had loved her... or at least he thought he had. Ted wasn't sure anymore.

"You and Charlotte were a thing, weren't you?" Paul asks quietly.

Pursing his lips, Ted nods reluctantly. "Yeah... she's part of the reason I left Maddie. That and the fact that Maddie was an alcoholic who refuses to get help. 'S how I got full custody." He thinks for a minute, and directs his voice toward the other two. "Hey, professor, what the hell did you mean earlier about Hannah's mom?"

Hidgens flinches visibly, and turns to him. "Long story short, I discovered that her mother was physically abusive," he says, and points to a pile of broken glass in one corner of the room. "Hannah was terrified I was going to hit her for dropping one of my beakers, and I managed to gently pry the reason why out of her. Her mother would hit her across the face for such an offense."

Ted feels his eyes widen, and his heart drops. "W-what?" He buries his face in his hands. "Shit, no wonder she hated visitation every other weekend...  _ fuck _ , how did I not notice it myself?"

Paul pats his back awkwardly, trying to comfort the man. "She probably just did a really good job of covering her tracks."

"Hannah's my daughter, I should have figured out why she was so terrified of visiting her mom..." Ted groans. "She must fucking hate me for this."

"Quite the opposite," Hidgens says. "I'll admit my first thought, when she cowered, was you. But she was adamant it wasn't. She seemed terrified by the idea that you might get blamed."

That certainly does help Ted feel a little better, and he lifts his head to give the professor a small, grateful smile. He swears he sees the barest hint of pink to the older man's face, but the professor turns back to his work before Ted can figure it out for sure.

"Right, back to work!" Hidgens says. "We have very little time before it's too late..."

Ted runs his hands over his face, wanting nothing more than to go hug his daughter— both of them— and promise them they never have to see Maddie again… but he still doesn’t fully trust the professor. 

Charlie the stuffed dog is on the table, and Ted picks him up and inspects it carefully. There’s a wet spot on one of his ears, usually indicative of Hannah crying. It adds up with what Hidgens had said about Hannah’s emotional state earlier. 

——————

Alice takes Hannah upstairs to the kitchen, to get her a snack, and sets her up on the counter. Peter follows. There isn't much to be had, but she manages to track down an unopened bag of chips she knows Hannah likes. The expiration date isn't for a few more months.

Her former— and now current, she supposes— charge munches somewhat happily, picking out the smallest broken pieces. Alice grabs a few, too, and smiles at Hannah. Hannah smiles back with her mouth closed as she chews, glancing at Peter with a question clearly in her eyes.

"This is my friend, Peter," Alice says. "He helped me get away from the scary people who wanted us to sing."

"Hi," Peter mumbles, giving Hannah a shy smile. She returns it, stuffing another chip in her mouth. She offers the bag to him, and Peter gratefully takes a handful.

"You must be getting bored," Alice says quietly. "We should find something for you to do... maybe the professor has a coloring book around here somewhere... or at least some blank paper. I've got colored pencils in my backpack."

She grabs her backpack, pulling out the desired drawing instruments, and sets them on the counter next to Hannah. "Oh, you know what? I have an extra notebook, too! We can color in that!" She pulls that out, too, and tears out a few pages.

Hannah, as usual when the two draw together, goes for the purple and black first and draws a purple spider sitting on her web. When she's done, she moves on to the next page. Alice has noticed that Hannah always draws the same thing first, then moves on to whatever her heart desires— a flower, a tree, a treasure map, a stick figure family. Today it seems to be the night sky, with a big shooting star in the middle of the page, scribbles of what seem to be lightning surrounding it. It looks eerily similar to what Alice had seen the night before, when the meteor came down. 

Alice uses a regular pencil to do her own sketch, outlining a face that she's drawn so many times before. The rounded cheeks, pointed chin, freckles, button nose. Curly auburn hair falling out of a beanie. 

Deb.

In the drawing, she's smiling the way she had after Alice had first asked her out. Not in the way she had when Alice had last seen her, singing from the other side of the door of the choir room. Then something had scared her off, and only a minute later, her dad and the others had shown up.

She desperately wishes they could go back to yesterday, before the storm and the meteor. Before this apparent end of the world. 

Peter doesn't color. He borrows another regular pencil and seems to start journaling, though Alice doesn't want to pry by reading it to find out.

Hannah finishes her coloring, and sets it aside to draw something else: a little field of different colored flowers.

Alice finishes the sketch, just as the adults all come traipsing up the stairs, arguing. Mr. Foster has a small stuffed dog in one hand, and Alice recognizes it as Hannah’s, although she forgets its name. 

"None of you know how to use this device," the oldest man— whom Alice doesn’t recognize— says. "It's very delicate, and requires a steady hand, which I have."

"If you think for a  _ second _ that I'm trusting you to save my daughter with that thing," Mr. Foster growls, "you're more delusional than you were earlier."

The other man flinches, and Hannah looks up with a frown. "Daddy," she says, and it sounds like a reprimand.

"Wait, what did he do earlier?" Alice's dad says.

"I—" the first man hesitates, flinching again. "I became convinced that joining the Hive was a good idea," he admits. "That the Hive was the only way to save humanity. I've since come to see that I was  _ very _ wrong. The Hive only brings death and destruction."

"So what did you  _ do _ ?" the woman— Emma, Alice had learned on the way here— asks carefully.

The man groans. "We don't have time for this," he snaps.

"He drugged me and Hannah, tied us up, and tried to lure those freaks in here," Ted explains impatiently. "Hannah somehow convinced him to knock it off— which I still don't get, by the way."

"You  _ drugged _ a  _ five year old _ ?" Emma exploded.

"A very small dose," the man defends. "Even smaller than I needed to!"

"I'm okay," Hannah says quietly, but the adults don't seem to hear her. She pouts. Alice reaches out and pats her hand, and so does Peter with Hannah's other one.

"So?!" Emma says rhetorically. "You could've fucked it up! You could've gotten an air bubble caught in there!"

"I know how to use a syringe, Emma," the man says, rolling his eyes. "I'm a biologist, not an amateur."

"Hidgens," Emma growls. Despite the height difference, the professor does seem to cower under her glare, however briefly it may be. 

"The point is that  _ none of you _ are equipped to go to the meteor. The theatre will be infested with the Hive's minions, the air thick with its spores. From the moment you enter, you may have only  _ seconds _ to use the device before you become one of them!" the professor— Hidgens— says angrily.

"Fine, then I'm going with you," Ted snaps. "I don’t trust you to go alone."

"I'd be faster if I were alone," Hidgens counters, but sighs and shakes his head when he sees the look on Ted's face. "Fine. Come, I have gas masks in the closet by the front door." He gestures for Ted to follow him. Emma, Paul, and Bill follow as well.

Hannah scrambles down from the counter and races after them. "Daddy, no!" She cries. Alice and Peter follow her.

"Pumpkin, it's okay," Ted soothes her, crouching down and stroking hair from her face as he hands her her dog. "Daddy's gonna go help the professor stop the Hive, then we'll be right back. You stay here with Alice and the others, okay?"

Hannah shakes her head. "Don't leave me," she whines, hugging him tight.

"I'll be back soon," Ted promises, and waves Alice over.

She quickly and carefully picks Hannah up and holds her securely while Ted and Hidgens grab gas masks and hurry out the door. It slams shut behind them.

Hannah sobs, squirming out of Alice’s arms and running over to the window. She drops the dog on the floor and puts both hands on the glass, able to see her own reflection more than the pair actually walking down the driveway. 

Peter picks up the stuffed animal, and crouches next to her. He doesn’t make any movement to pry her away from the window before she’s ready, allowing her to let it out. Eventually, her tears dry up and she gets tired, which lets Peter scoop her up and take her to the living room. Alice follows, and the five year old falls asleep in her lap, clinging tightly to her stuffed dog. 

The adults mill about— well, Paul and Emma do. They head downstairs, while Bill comes over and sits with Alice. She leans into him, absently stroking Hannah’s hair. Peter finally eats the granola bar he’d been given earlier. 

_ It’s oddly quiet for the apocalypse _ , Alice thinks.  _ Now that we’re away from all the singing and dancing… poor Mr. Foster and Dr. Hidgens. I hope they make it. I hope they can save Deb, and everyone else. For Hannah’s sake.  _


	6. Chapter 6: Let It Out

They can't take a car, because it would be too loud, and they can't risk hurting the innocent people the Hive is running around in. So they walk, mostly in silence.

It's a long way from Henry's house to the Starlight, but it's a path he knows well. He and Ted even manage to utilize a shortcut that Henry rarely gets to use, since he normally drives to the theatre.

"I  _ am _ very sorry about before," Henry says around the halfway point. "Truly sorry."

"Uh, thanks," Ted says, unsure whether or not he’s ready to believe it. "Hannah seems to like you... she trusts you now. So for her sake... I'll try to do the same. But if you do a single thing that puts her in danger, I'll kill you myself, got it?"

Henry chuckles and nods. "Understood. She's a very lucky little girl to have such a caring father like you."

Henry can't see it because of the gas mask and nighttime's poor visibility, but Ted blushes a little. "Thanks," he says again, then clears his throat. "So what exactly did Hannah tell you about her mother?"

Henry sighs. "Only that she would grab Hannah's arm and hit her face if she did something wrong, even simple things like breaking something on accident. I have a suspicion there were... other factors for the violence?" He glances at Ted, hoping the man would either confirm or deny it.

Ted's quiet for a long moment as they trudge forward in the dark. "Maddie's an alcoholic who refuses to get help," he finally says. "It's one of the reasons I finally left her— others include the fact that she found out I wasn't straight and she didn't like it."

Henry tries to ignore the way his heart was hammering at that. They'd only just met, and Henry knew he'd probably blown whatever chance he had right out of the water the moment he even considered sedating Ted's daughter.

_ Get it together, Hidgens, _ he tells himself.  _ You’re a little too busy to be thinking about that sort of thing. The Apotheosis is upon us, people are dying—  _

Ted doesn't notice Henry's internal dilemma, and continues. "We kind of... unofficially split up just after Hannah was born, but we didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her. So we agreed to keep up appearances, while also leading seperate lives. Over the years, she's had a couple boyfriends, I've had a couple girlfriends and a boyfriend." 

Ted sighs heavily. "Then I met Charlotte, and we hit off. Got to the point where I was willing to finally make the divorce official, but Charlotte apparently didn't feel the same way. I should’ve known earlier— she wasn’t exactly subtle about seeing other guys too—"

He stops walking, and Henry turns to him, prepared to encourage him to hurry. Ted's shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to dump all of that on you. We've got enough to worry about without adding my pathetic love life on top of it."

"Oh, um... it's no problem, really," Henry says. "I've been told I'm a good listener. But we really should keep moving. We're almost there."

"Thank God," Ted breathes, and the pair resumes the trek in silence.

They arrive down the street from the theatre, and hear the singing before they see who it is. It seems most of the town is dancing in some form of celebration, and Henry has to tell himself to quit admiring the impressive choreography.

_ You have a job to do, dammit.  _

_ Quit gawking at the enemy.  _ Oh. That wasn’t Henry’s internal voice. That’s Webby. He hadn’t heard her in months… until Hannah mentioned her. 

_ Sorry, Webby, _ he replies.  _ And I’m sorry about earlier, too. _

She doesn’t respond this time, and Henry sighs. He leads Ted down an alley and around to the back of the building. They end up breaking in through the locked back door, but the security system was shot to pieces when the meteor crashed through the roof, so there’s no alarm left to sound.

The meteor's sitting on the stage in the main theatre hall, or rather sitting half-buried in it. There's a faint blue glow emanating from it, and Henry pulls the device from his inner jacket pocket.

"We'll have to get closer," he says grimly, doing a final inspection of his invention. He adjusts a dial on the side, preparing the nozzle. 

Suddenly, a pair of familiar faces emerge from stage left, strutting confidently around the small crater in the center. A woman steps out from stage right, one that Henry doesn't recognize, but leaves Ted gasping in shock. All three figures begin approaching them, their bodies moving and contorting like some kind of interpretive dance.

"Maddie?!" Ted says.

Henry doesn't look at him, too focused on the men coming toward them. "Steve," he chokes. "Chad..."

"What's with the mask, Henry?" The latter teases, as though nothing were out of the ordinary. "Isn't this what you've been dreaming of for years? Why hide from it now?"

"B-because the Hive isn't what I th-thought it was," Henry stammers.  _ No, this can’t be happening— I thought Chad left Hatchetfield years ago! _

Meanwhile, Maddie is trying to get to Ted. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you about your sexuality," she says with a pout. She looks more put together than Ted's seen her in a long time, wearing nice clothes and makeup, with her curly hair braided to the side. "I've been thinking, and I've realized that I was wrong. I do hope you can forgive me... we could be a family again, isn't that right, Lex?"

Ted's teenage daughter steps out from a side door near the stage. "Of course, Mom!" She says cheerfully. Her boyfriend, Ethan, trails in after her. "C'mon, Dad, join the fun! You and Hannah will love the Hive!"

"You're not really Lex," Ted says, shaking his head.

Chad approaches Henry, almost close enough to touch him, but Henry takes a step back, one arm out defensively. 

"Come now, Henry," Chad says. "Why can't it be like old times? Isn't that what you want?"

"I've moved on, Chad," Henry says shakily. "I don't want that anymore."

"Then what do you want?" Steve asks.

"It doesn't matter what I want," Henry snaps.

"We think it does, Henry," Maddie purrs, and a piano starts playing from somewhere backstage.

"And we want to hear about it," Chad adds, smirking. He starts singing. " **What's in your soul? Are your hearts so damp and bleak, that you won't give us a peek of your souls?** "

" **Just let it out,** " Lex jumps in. " **There's a voice inside of you, on the edge of coming through, just let it out.** "

Both Ted and Henry duck around their respective tormentors and race for the stage. Ethan blocks Ted's path, while Henry makes it.

" **And I know it's a singular voice, Ted,** " Ethan sings, " **You just have to give up your choice.** "

Ted ducks under Ethan's arms, and makes it to the stage. He scrambles up and stands next to Henry, who is fumbling with his device.

"What are you waiting for?" Ted snaps.

"The trigger's stuck," Henry retorts, and then suddenly—

_ Whooooosh _ !

The 'heavily modified can of hairspray' starts working, spraying an orange mist over the blue glow coming from a hole in the meteor. The glow fades as the can empties, and the people around them— once singing— begin to shriek. Everyone's holding their ears, as bright blue blood drips from their noses before turning red. Lex and Ethan both drop to their knees, though the three adults stay standing.

The piano music cuts off.

"It's working!" Ted shouts.

Henry holds his breath anxiously as the last drops of the spray sputter out, his eyes on the meteor. When the glow doesn't start back up, he releases the breath and watches as the blue shit inside actually turns black and hardens, cracks forming along the surface. The lump shatters, looking almost like obsidian, and the infected adults collapse to their knees as well. He pulls a small device from his pocket and checks the reading, watching as the spore count drops rapidly, falling to zero in a matter of moments.

He doesn't take his mask off yet, not until he's counted to thirty without the spore count going back up.

"It's over," he finally says quietly.

"Thank Christ," Ted groans. "Can I take this mask off now?" Henry nods, not looking at him. He gently takes his own mask off, still staring at the dead Hive brain, while Ted rips his off and rushes down to Lex's side.

"Dad?" She moans. "Wha' happen'?"

"You're alright, Sunshine," Ted promises, holding her close and taking a few deep, calming breaths. "Everything's gonna be just fine now... it's over."

Lex wipes her nose, and stares at the back of her hand in shock. The blue blood from before has turned black and crusty, just like its source inside the meteor. "What— what the hell is this?" She asks, looking up at Ted with wide, terrified eyes.

"I'll explain everything later," Ted says. "First, let's get you back to the professor's house. He can help explain, and that's where Hannah is."

"Banana?" Ethan mumbles, sitting up on his own. "'S she okay?"

"Hannah's fine," Henry says, clearing his throat and finally looking away from the meteor. "We should go let her and the others know theat we were successful."

Ted nods, scooping Lex up in his arms. "My car is actually parked just down the street," he says. "Would you mind helping Ethan get there?"

Nodding, Henry hauls Ethan to his feet, and pulls one of the kid's arms around Henry's shoulders. Ted ignores Maddie on their way out, who is moaning and groaning, and Henry ignores Steve and Chad, who are both unconscious at the foot of the stage.

Ted carries Lex and leads the other two out of the building and down the street. The sidewalk is littered with people in varying states of consciousness, all trying to find their loved ones. Ted hears one familiar voice calling out over the rest.

"Alice?" a girl weakly tries to yell. Ted sets Lex down in the backseat and jogs back over to the crowd. A teenage girl in a flannel and beanie is crawling around on her hands and knees, trying to find this 'Alice'.

"Deb?" Ted calls to her. There were several occasions where Deb would help Alice while babysitting Hannah— not to mention her long-time friendship with Lex and Ethan. "Deb, are you okay?"

She sees him, and shakes her head. She looks terrified. "Can't find Alice," she mumbles as Ted gets closer. "What happened? I don't remember anything after going to see Alice at the school..."

"Alice is fine," Ted assures her, crouching down. "You wanna go see her? She's been really worried about you. She's with her dad and Paul at my friend's house, along with Hannah and a couple other people."

Deb nods at his question, looking more vulnerable than Ted had ever seen of the punk-ish girl. "Want me to carry you?" He asks. She shakes her head, slowly but surely regaining her 'tough girl' demeanor.

"Just help me walk to the car?" She asks quietly, and Ted nods. He holds out a hand for her to take, then uses it to sling her arm around his shoulders like Henry had done for Ethan.

He takes her to the car, and she leans against it as he helps Lex scoot over to make room. Henry's already waiting in the front passenger seat, fiddling with the straps of the gas mask in his hand. Deb manages to climb in and buckle up by herself, so Ted rounds to the driver's seat and starts the car up.

"Do you remember how to get back?" Henry asks quietly, and Ted admits that he doesn't, so Henry gives him directions.

They arrive at the house much quicker than they had trying to get to the theatre, and the two men look at it in slowly dawning terror when they don't see any lights on. Ted jumps out of the car and races to the gate. There's no electricity buzzing faintly from the barbed wire atop the stone wall, and his heart drops. 

_ What’s happened? _


	7. Chapter 7: Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: the warnings about physical abuse come into affect in this chapter. I’ll mark the specific section with *** both before and after.

Ted's heart sinks at the lack of electricity. The only thing still working is the lock on the gate, which is only a small comfort. Henry pulls out a key and shakily unlocks the gate by hand, ready to bolt up the steps to the front door, but Ted grabs his arm to stop him.

"Guys, wait in the car," Ted calls back into the car.

"Not like any of us are going anywhere," Ethan says back, the sarcasm clear in his voice. 

Ted rolls his eyes— “Fucking teenagers,” he mutters— before letting go of Henry and letting him take the lead.

Both men are quick to get to the front door, and Henry unlocks it. Neither make it very far inside the dark house before hearing the unmistakable sound of a shotgun racking.

"Prove you were successful," Emma says in the dark. Ted and Henry glance at each other, and Henry pulls a small switchblade out of his pocket, and makes a small incision in the pad of his thumb. Ted winces sympathetically, and flicks on a lightswitch so the others could see.

"The infected bled blue," Henry says quietly. "Remember Charlotte and Sam?"

"So you did it, then?" Pauls asks. "The— the Hive is gone?"

Ted nods tiredly. "We've got a couple guests out in the car— Paul, Bill, can I get your help getting them inside the house? Henry should probably get his thumb taken care of."

Henry heads down the basement stairs without another word, and Bill and Paul follow Ted back out to the car. Light starts to flood the front yard again as Emma goes about turning lights back on, including the ones on the porch.

"What kind of 'guests'?" Paul asks. "Did you find your other daughter?"

Ted nods again. "Lex's in the car, and so is her boyfriend, Ethan. And Deb," Ted adds, glancing at Bill, who frowns a little but doesn't say anything. "She was looking for Alice, terrified, when the Hive... uh, died?"

Bill just sighs, and offers to help Ethan if Paul could handle Deb. Ted tries to carry Lex again, but she insists on trying to walk.

—————

Hannah lays curled up on her side, hiding under the bed in one of the bedrooms. Alice and Peter are with her,, both of them trying to quietly soothe and reassure her. Emma, Paul, and Bill are out in the dining room, each with a gun pointing at the front door. Emma had insisted, when they'd heard the car pull up outside.

They'd already been keeping the lights off that were visible to the road, but Emma had shut off the rest of them when they heard the car coming, even going so far as to have Alexa shut off all defenses but the locked gate.

Hannah can hear the front door opening and closing, and Emma's voice calling out for Hidgens and Ted to prove they were successful. A few quiet moments later, Emma comes knocking on the door to let them know it was safe to come out.

Trapped in the middle, Hannah has to wait what feels like forever for the other two to move enough that she can crawl out. As soon as she can, she bolts for the front door to see her daddy, but he's gone back outside to the car. He comes back half-carrying Lex, and Hannah starts crying in relief. Mr. Bill is helping Ethan, and Mr. Paul is helping Deb.

Alice rushes past Hannah and flies down the stairs of the front porch to hug Deb, planting a big kiss on her girlfriend.

Hannah goes down the stairs more slowly, crying in relief. She clings to her sister's leg. Bill lets go of Ethan, who manages to come over and pick Hannah up. Lex pulls away from Ted so she can hug them.

"Hey, Banana, we're okay," Lex says soothingly, sounding more tired than Hannah’s ever heard. 

"I know," Hannah sniffles, and reaches for Ted. Ethan doesn't argue, just passes her over. "Daddy saved you... with Dr. Hidgens."

"Hidgens did most of the work," Ted says sheepishly, and kisses the top of her head. "I just kinda kept him company on the way to the theatre. C'mon, let's get inside."

He carries Hannah in, and Lex and Ethan follow. Paul, Deb, and Alice had already gone in on their own.

"Ethan, would you mind taking Hannah to bed for me? I need to talk to Lex in private for a minute," Ted says quietly. Ethan shrugs, going to take Hannah back, but she whines in protest.

"I'm not even tired!" she says, although she’s clearly fighting a yawn. "I wanna stay with you guys!"

"It's almost midnight, Pumpkin," Ted chuckles, kissing her forehead. "Even Daddy's tired. We’ll be right there, okay?”

Hannah pouts, but doesn't keep arguing once she finally yawns after a moment. Ethan takes her, leaving Ted and Lex alone in the dining room. He gestures for her to sit in one of the chairs, which she does, and he sits in the one next to her, taking her hand and holding it on top of the table. He strokes the back of her hand with his thumb.

***

"Lex, does your mother ever... hurt you?" he asks carefully, voice quiet and careful. "Please, tell me the truth."

Lex hesitates, then nods slowly. "She, uh... yeah.” Ted sighs deeply, running his free hand over his face. Lex keeps going. “She likes to smack me upside the head with a hairbrush sometimes, or slap me across the face if she's feeling extra brave. She'll yank my hair a lot, if I'm not doing things just right. How did you know?"

"Hannah admitted to Dr. Hidgens," Ted explains. "She accidentally broke something of his, and he figured out based on her response that she's been hurt for similar things. He got her to tell him who." He sighs again.

***

"Alexandra, I am so sorry I didn't notice it myself," he says, squeezing her hand. "I should have realized why neither of you ever wanted to go to see her, and I should never have let this happen. I can't change the past, but I swear to you that she will never lay a hand on you again."

She squeezes his hand back, and smiles sadly. "You can't promise that," she says softly. "She still has visitation rights."

"Not for much longer," Ted promises. "I'm revoking those from her just as soon as the courts open back up to let me."

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect Hannah from her,” Lex mumbles, but Ted shakes his head and squeezes her hand again. 

“No, I’m the one who should have protected her,” he says. “You shouldn’t have had to have that responsibility to begin with. This is on me.”

“It’s not your fault, Dad,” Lex says. “This is all on Mom. You didn’t know.” Ted chuckles morosely, and allows the blame to pass him. 

Lex sniffles a little, pulling him in for a hug. He holds her tight, rubbing her back. After a long few moments, he finally pulls away to yawn, and she gives him a tired smile. 

Both getting up, they head off to one of the spare bedrooms. Ethan’s sitting on the edge of the bed, telling Hannah a bedtime story, which he wraps up when he sees Lex and Ted. 

“Goodnight, Banana,” Ethan says. “I’ll, uh, be in another room.”

He hastily exists, scooting around the other two— although Lex does manage to kiss his cheek before he totally escapes. She and Ted crawl into the bed on either side of Hannah, and she curls up. Charlie’s tucked under her arm. Ted holds both his daughters close as he slowly falls to sleep. 

—————

Henry stands in the center of his lab, arms crossed, as he stares at the pile of all his Hive research. He'd gone about and collected it all, stacking it haphazardly on the lab table in the middle of the room, including his notes from studying Sam.

He's quite tempted to burn it all, but knows logically that he shouldn't, just in case there are other Hives out there. He would need his notes on the neuro-toxin, just in case. Instead of burning it, he goes about organizing everything into a couple of binders. He's slightly hindered by the bandaid on his thumb, but it's not too bad.

"I suppose this was inevitable," he sighs, eyeing another binder already on the shelf. He pulls it out, flipping through the pages.

 _Workin'_ _Boys_ has been his pride and joy for the last twenty-five years, but everything Chad had said to him at the theatre— even if it hadn’t really been Chad in charge— is getting to him.

_"Come now, Henry," Chad says. "Why can't it be like old times? Isn't that what you want?"_

Flashes of those 'old times' run through Henry's mind. Playing football with his friends, them coming to see his performances with their college's theatre department. Sneaking around with Chad, both praying that none of their friends would catch them in any unexplainable situations.

It’s with a start that Henry realizes that those ‘old times’ haven’t really been what he’s wanted for a while now. He’s wanted something new, something real, something _permanent_. Even back then, deep down, Henry had known nothing with Chad would last. They’d wanted two different things for their futures.

He shakes his head to clear it, and grabs the lighter out of the drawer to his left and storms out to his backyard with it and the binder. He's grateful he kept the small fire pit as he throws the binder in and flicks the lighter on, holding it to the pages of his beloved _Workin' Boys_.

"No more holding on to the past," he whispers, watching it burn as he takes a step back. "I'm going to go flirt with that hot single dad."


End file.
